Home Waterbirth

Good for you. You're brave. I'd prefer to be close to the person that could stick that needle in my spine. :-)

I don't know about where you live but I do know that some places have birthing centers. I highly recommend them. Also some hospitals have midwives as well. I know in Hawaii a midwife can not legally help with a home birth.

Also when we were uninsured we had a child in a birthing center. It cost us 5,000 dollars for all prenatal visits, birth, post par-tum visit and baby screenings. insurance is nice but it is really affordable compared to 35,000 dollar child (also uninsured) we had before we knew about birthing centers...

Beware of hospitals... most SAY they offer a tub or shower, but in reality they tie you down to a bed on your back as soon as they can make you think something is wrong. Between IV fluids, external fetal monitoring that is constant, internal monitors that are shoved up into your uterus for contractions or the fetal internal that SCREWS into their head to monitor heartbeat... they get you down and keep you there.

I wish I had met some educated Mommas on homebirthing, Midwifery Birthing Centers, etc before I had my first. at the hospital - "Oh you had a birth plan? Too bad, hospital policy overrules anything you asked for". <----- Pretty much ALL hospitals. "You don't want a cesarean? Well sorry the things we did to you pretty much guarantee a slice and dice in the OR" <---- that is what they should have said instead of lying thru their teeth.

Start looking for Midwives (CPM or CNMs in free standing Birthing Centers) - your birth will be much healthier, happier and what it should be. If you are deemed too high risk, you may end up with an OB.

First thing to do, is check with your insurance.

Check out Health Foundations in St Paul. It's a free standing birth center with the option of delivering there or delivering at your home. Go to an info session there or call to see about pricing. I have a friend who did a home water birth through there and loved it. Your insurance may cover it at out of network rates.

I would advise you to have your baby in a hospital since it's your first baby. If your first delivery goes super smoothly, then have your second at home, but don't take unnecessary risks with your first. I know a woman who just lost her son at 12 hours old after a homebirth (strep B). He would have survived if he had been born in a hospital. You could investigate a birth center, but again, you/your baby might end up being rushed to a hospital anyway like another friend of mine was with her first. The trauma of having to be rushed to the hospital in the middle of a crisis is something to consider. I wouldn't risk it.

Also, watch some of the ones on YouTube, they are amazing. There is a place in Florida that offers this, honestly, it looks like a spa setting it's so nice. And the births themselves are just beautiful. Most of the moms I've seen seem to be so in sync with their bodies and work with the contractions and the baby. You can definitely do it at home though. Good luck and congratulations!

Google waterbirth and coach and doula with your city name.

contact a local or nearby la leche league - they would be the people who would know about that kind of thing! :):)
this is a GREAT choice, and i hope you have good luck doing it! :)
good luck and congratulations!

You can find a midwife willing to assist at home, as well as doulas. Find one that will take your insurance!

Hi J.,
I'm a Doula in the Twin Cities! I've never had the opportunity to help with a home birth yet, but I know they are fairly common in the twin cities and I can't wait to do my first one! With my doula experience I know that you can have a "homebirth" experience at some hospials/birthing centers. I'm a doula on staff at Woodwinds hospital and they will give you the space to have follow your birth plan as long as everything is going good with your labor! I also 2nd the recommendation for Health Foundations in St. Paul. There is a lot of good midwifery groups here in the cities that will do homebirths. A great place for more information is the Chidbirth Collective. There is an amazing group of professionals, Midwifes, Doula's, Lactation Consultants, photographers etc...
Good luck on your searching!
~M. C.

Hennepin County Medical Center has a midwife practice and a waterbirth suite.

So does St. Joseph and Woodwinds (both HealthEast).

Check with your insurance, many will cover some of the costs of a midwife and supplies. If not, it is still thousands cheaper to have your baby at home. I did not get to do it, but I think it would have been nice. Watch the movie "the business of being born", it is really really good.

I don't have any reccommedations, but would like to tell you that this is SO do-able and if I were to have any more kids I would do it at home! I've had two hospital births, one with an epidural and a midwife delivered, and one all natural and a nurse delivered (baby came so fast the doctor didn't make it). The natural birth was quicker, and my recovery time was almost instant - my biggest gripe was that we DID go to the hospital where they were more worried about getting an IV in my arm than listening to me telling them that the baby was crowning! If I'd just stayed home the whole event would have been so much less stressful. So good for you, do what you know is right, and have confidence that you can do it - but being your first birth I would highly reccommend a doula to help you and hubby get through the whole thing as calmly as possible! :)